


Car Shopping

by Titch360



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 11:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7505947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titch360/pseuds/Titch360
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can Bruce and Damian bond over something not Batman related?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Car Shopping

Car Shopping

 

“Father, what are we doing here again?”

Bruce sighed as he looked down at his youngest son.  “I told you back at the manor.  We are here looking for a new car.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just call a dealership, tell them what you want, and have them deliver it to the manor?”  Damian replied, tilting his head questioningly.

“I suppose it would be easier, but where would be the fun in that?” Bruce shot a small grin at his son.  “And before you ask your next question, remember: you said you wanted to come along.”

“What is wrong with the car Pennyworth used to drop us off?”

“The Bentley?  Not a thing, son.  However, like I told you before, today we are looking for something more…incognito.  Every now and then, we need to be able to get around without attracting attention and without people we pass on the street looking at our car and saying ‘Hey look, there goes Bruce Wayne.’”

Damian looked confused at his father’s explanation.  “I thought that’s what the Batmobile was for?”

Bruce shook his head.  “Damian, I mean when we are off duty.  Besides, it just looks wrong having Alfred pull the Bentley, or the Brabus, or even the Jaguar, through a drive-thru so we can get a couple burgers.”

Damian looked at the expansive car lot in front of the pair, and Bruce could see the wheels turning as his son evaluated the selection on display.

The younger asked, “Most of these are of differing brands and styles.  I thought car dealerships specialized in individual makes?”

Bruce smiled again, “This is a used car lot, Damian.  You might be surprised at the deals available at a place like this.”

Again, Damian was confused.  “ _Used_ cars?  Why would we want someone else’s vehicle?”

Bruce replied with a full smile on his face now, “Because incognito means we don’t need the newest and flashiest car available.  We are trying to keep a low profile for those times when we want to go out as a family without making a big production, or an elaborate show of wealth.”

“Father, if it is the money, I finished an analysis of the Wayne Enterprises quarterly financial statements last week for the profit meeting.  Stock prices are up 20% over last quarter.  Your dividend share should be close to _forty million dollars_ with your controlling interest still at 95%.”

Bruce knelt down in front of his son and placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Just because I could buy this entire car lot without noticing an appreciable dip in liquid assets doesn’t mean we should go around wasting money.  Let me put it this way: Would you rather we buy a new, prohibitively expensive car for the occasional trip to a store or a restaurant, or would you rather we save a little money and put the savings towards something fun or useful, like a redesigned batarang or a sword-fighting training robot?”

Damian thought about it and a slow, devious smile stretched its way across his face.  He looked up at his father’s face and nodded.  “I _have_ been doing some drawings for new batarangs, among other gear.”

Bruce returned the smile and said, “Okay, let’s look around a bit.  Remember, the mission is to find a vehicle that people would see driving down the street and make no connection to Bruce Wayne whatsoever.  Got it?”  Damian nodded.  “Okay, let’s go.”

“Father, one last question: Who is Max?”

Bruce was puzzled at this question.  “Max?”

Damian nodded and pointed up to the blue and yellow sign at the top of the pole, advertising the car dealership.

Bruce threw his head back and let out a loud laugh.  Sometimes, Damian’s naivety was absolutely priceless.  _Well, I guess that is what happens when one reads books instead of watching television_ Bruce thought.  “Not ‘Max,’ Damian.  This dealership is called ‘CarMax.’  It is a national chain specializing in used cars.”

“Oh,” Damian looked down, abashed.  A slight hint of embarrassment colored his cheeks and he looked away from his father, trying to hide it.  Bruce placed a hand on Damian’s back, guiding him ahead to look at the selection.  To Bruce’s surprise, Damian made no attempt to remove the comforting hand from his back, and allowed his father to guide him towards the car lot.

After walking for a couple minutes, Damian stopped next to a car and, with a smirk on his face, said, “How about this one?  No one would ever think Bruce Wayne would be caught dead in this.”

Bruce stopped and looked at the selection, and he had to agree with Damian’s assessment.  No one would ever even think Bruce Wayne would be in the same state as such a vehicle.  The vehicle was a tri-colored Honda Civic hatchback.  Unfortunately, the three colors in question were off-white, primer, and rust.  _Which of the numerous flaws should I use to shoot down this selection?_ Bruce thought.   “Okay, this is a good starting point to use for explaining the expanded criteria for car selection.  First, it needs to be something that could fit the whole family, which this definitely will not.  It needs to be structurally sound, and frankly I don’t think this thing could make it off the lot without falling apart, much less get us around Gotham when we want to use it.  Third, I don’t want something that will possibly break down as soon as the key is put into the ignition.  Don’t worry Damian, we will find something here that fits the criteria.”

Damian walked away from the car with his father.  “Thank you, Father.  The extra explanation will help greatly in making a selection.”  Bruce was glad his son said that, he was afraid he might have hurt his son’s feelings by automatically shooting down his first selection, but Damian looked determined to find a more suitable selection.

They walked for a few more minutes, and Bruce could tell that Damian was taking his ‘mission’ seriously.  So seriously, in fact, that several times when Bruce stopped to look at a car, Damian walked into the back of him because his head was constantly swiveling around, staring at the variety of cars before him.  Bruce thought, _I bet he has never seen most of these cars before, or even knew that some of them existed._

At this time, a salesman approached the two men and offered his hand to Bruce.  He was a younger man, couldn’t have been more than 30, and he had a pleasant, charming smile on his face as he introduced himself.  “Hi there, my name is Roy, welcome to CarMax.”

Bruce smiled back as he shook the younger man’s hand.  “Hello Roy, my name is Bruce.  This here is my son, Damian.”  Bruce motioned to his son, who was standing slightly behind Bruce and leaning around him to look at the salesman with a hint of suspicion.

Roy was quick to offer his hand to the boy.  “Hello Damian.  I’m glad you both came down today.  We have special financing deals right now that are expiring tomorrow.  You couldn’t have picked a better time to come in.”

Damian warily shook the man’s hand and noticed that Roy was fidgeting and glancing back at the showroom towards a man, who was holding a clipboard and watching their every move.  “Who is that?” Damian asked the man, ready to protect his father should either man prove to be a threat.

“Oh, he is my manager.” Roy shot a smile back at the man with the clipboard and turned back to the family before him.  “Look I hate to start with the line about the financing deals, but today is the last day of my new employee orientation and every move I make today is being scrutinized.  The boss wants us to mention the deals up front, and I want to keep my job.”  Roy leaned in towards the two men and stage-whispered, “Personally, I think the worst way for a salesman to start a deal is to talk about money, but I didn’t write the script.”

Bruce smiled at the man and patted him on the shoulder.  Damian watched his father’s reaction to the man and decided to see where the conversation lead before making any more snap judgments.

Bruce said, “I understand completely Roy. If the boss says it, you gotta do it.  But now that it is out of the way, maybe you could show me a few cars.  I am looking for something to fit the family, nothing really flashy, but it has to be solid and reliable.”

Roy smiled at the older man and relaxed visibly, “I think we can work with that.  Did you have anything special in mind?”

“Not really.  Why don’t you just show us around and let’s see if something speaks to me.”

“Sounds good, but there is one important question that I must ask first, it will really help narrow down the selection.  As you can see, this is a big lot.  We have over 2500 vehicles in stock.  So the big thing I need to know is: is there any color that the vehicle has to be?”  Roy asked, his arm sweeping the lot to encompass the entire selection.

Damian couldn’t help but think about the scene in the Lion King where Mufasa showed Simba the Pride Lands from the top of Pride Rock.  _Everything the light touches, Simba_.  This only came to mind because Grayson had forced them to watch it again last night.  He had said he needed some ‘circle of light’ last night, whatever that meant.  All Damian knew was that, when Grayson was in that kind of mood, Damian ended up being forced to cuddle; not that he would ever tell Grayson that he didn’t really mind too much anymore. 

Bruce opened his mouth to reply, but it was Damian who spoke up and said in a clear, strong voice, “Black.  It has to be black.”

Roy smiled down at the boy, not a condescending smile, just an ordinary smile.  “Okay, black it is.”  He glanced at Bruce, who nodded, approving of the color choice.  Roy looked back at Damian and asked, “Might this be a hand-me-down someday?  If so, then maybe you really ought to be the one to pick it out.”

Damian stopped and looked at the man.  He hadn’t thought about the fact that whatever they picked out could one day become his.  He regarded the man and adjusted his assessment of him once more.  The man was seriously asking for, and accepting, Damian’s input into the selection.  He wasn’t treating Damian as some child, just along for the ride.  He wasn’t trying to make Damian like him in order to make it harder for Bruce to say no to a purchase.  He was treating Damian as an equal, an interested and involved third party to the transaction.  It made Damian feel good.  He didn’t have to fight to gain acceptance; Roy was offering it freely.  It was a new situation for Damian, but he liked it.

Bruce followed Roy around the car lot, thinking about what he just saw.  His son, the aristocratic son of a multi-billionaire and the tyrannical, manipulative daughter of the leader of the League of Assassins, was smiling at the simple act of being included in picking the color of a car.  Whoever this Roy was, he had a way of making Damian at least appear happy.  Bruce decided that this man was getting his business, even if he had to buy the entire car lot in order for this man to keep his job.

Roy stopped them at a black Nissan Altima, and Damian, still distracted with his thoughts of being able to help with the decision while his head swiveled, looking at everything but where he was going, ran into Bruce again, this time tripping over Bruce’s foot and falling to the ground.  Bruce was quick to kneel at his son’s side to check if he was injured.  Damian was fine, of course.  If someone trained by the League of Assassins couldn’t survive a small trip without injury, then he wouldn’t make a very good assassin, would he?  However, Damian stayed on his hands and knees for a minute, and Bruce could see his son’s cheeks flame a bright red in embarrassment at the momentary display of clumsiness.  Roy looked worried.  The last thing he needed was to have to explain to his boss why a potential customer left with a bleeding child and no sale.  Bruce looked up at Roy, read the concern on his face, and sent a sympathetic smile to the man, explaining, “Don’t worry about it, he’s fine.  Just so much to look at around here, he didn’t see us stop.  Tell you what, do you think it would be possible for us to get a couple bottles of water? It is a bit hot out here today.”

Roy ran off with an “Of course, sir, anything you want” tossed over his shoulder as he left.  Bruce placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder and the boy flinched, but soon relaxed as Bruce gently squeezed the muscle there.

“It’s okay, Damian.  Believe me, it can happen to any of us.  Happened to me all the time when I was your age.  In fact, I can remember doing the exact same thing you just did once, with my father.  See Damian, I wanted you to come today because going car shopping with my father is one of my favorite memories from my childhood.  And I’m not just saying this to make you feel better that your father was clumsy as a boy, it really did happen to me, I really tripped over my father on a car lot.  Only difference is, I did it in the snow.”

At this, Damian looked up at his father, the blush of embarrassment starting to fade from the boy’s face.  Bruce smiled encouragingly at his son.  Damian allowed a small smile to cross his lips as he imagined a young Bruce Wayne going face first into a snow drift.  “Did that really happen, Father?”

“Oh yes.  Actually caught quite a cold the next day.  Was in bed for the rest of the week.  Come to think of it, I don’t really know why that is such a fond memory for me, I hate being sick.”

Damian let out a little laugh and allowed his father to help him to his feet.  Damian wiped the dirt off of his pants as Roy ran back to the duo, holding several bottles of water and some wet and dry paper towels.  He handed a bottle of water to Bruce and the wet towels to Damian, stating, “I thought you might want to clean up a bit, just in case.”

Damian smiled at the man and wiped the scuffs on his hands and elbows where he had hit the asphalt, then wiped the knees of his pants to get most of the marks off.  Roy then handed him the dry paper towels to dry his hands.  He then took the wad of paper, handed Damian a bottle of water, then pulled out a couple cookies from a plastic bag he had used to carry out the bottles and towels.  Roy handed two to Damian with a wink and one to Bruce, shrugging and saying, “They were in the showroom, thought you might like one.”  Roy then put the dirty towels back in the bag.  Damian noticed that there were a couple more bottles of water in the bag.  The man was obviously skilled in customer service, making sure to have extra on hand should his customers request more.  Damian made it a point to get his father alone just long enough to tell him that Bruce had to buy a car from this man and make sure his job review went in his favor, even if he had to buy the whole dealership.

Bruce then spoke up, more for Roy’s sake, but still addressing Damian.  “Hey Damian, this is a big lot, and you are well aware of what we are looking for.  Why don’t you look around a bit on your own?  If you find something you think I should see, just call or text and we will work our way over there.  Sound good?”

Damian nodded and made to go off on his own to complete the assigned mission, but he stopped and turned back around to Roy and said, “Thank you for the cookies.”  Damian then ran off into the sea of interesting vehicles.

Bruce was astounded.  Damian must really like this man if he was offering pleasantries and using manners.  Bruce turned back to Roy, and for a second forgot how to speak.  Once he regained himself, Bruce asked to look at something a bit higher end.

The two men stopped at various cars for the next hour, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each.  They were looking at a fairly high-end black BMW M5 currently, which Bruce liked.  Then an odd thought occurred to him.  He pictured the car with a blue Nightwing insignia painted on the roof.  For some reason, the thought made him laugh out loud, startling Roy.  _Maybe I will buy this one for Dick._ Now that he thought of the car as a Nightwing-mobile, he couldn’t get the thought out of his head.  As Roy looked at him strangely, Bruce explained, “Sorry, I was just thinking about someone else.  I think this car might be a good gift for my oldest son, he would get a kick out of it.  Maybe another day.”  That seemed to satisfy Roy’s curiosity.  Of course, Bruce didn’t mention the thought of the pairing of this vehicle with Dick’s alter ego.

At this point, Bruce’s phone began to ring, which startled him.  Not because the phone was ringing, but because of the song it was playing.  Obviously, Dick had been messing with his ringtones again.  The song, which some clever advertising agent had sent over to Batman for his approval to be aired on the news before stories involving the Bat, blared from the tiny speaker of his phone.  It was Bruce’s turn to blush with embarrassment as Roy tried to hide a snicker.  _Why did Dick have to send an approval to use_ that _song while I was out of town?  Seriously?  The best thing the channel 4 news could come up with was NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!!!!??_

Roy stared at the man before smiling and saying, “Don’t worry, I have the same ringtone on my phone.”

Bruce pulled out the phone and saw that it was a text from Damian:  Father, mission accomplished. North east side of the showroom, approx. 40 meters from the exit doors.

“It’s a text from my son.  He says he found the right car for me.  Let’s go see what he found.”

Bruce turned his head in the direction the text indicated, but could not see Damian.  Trusting his son’s sense of direction, Bruce headed in the direction and within five minutes, he and Roy had found the smiling boy.  He was standing between two vehicles, smiling at his father, and said “Well, what do you think?  Is it satisfactory?”

Bruce turned to the vehicle in question and he had to admit, it wasn’t a bad choice.  It was a late model Range Rover Sport, black, of course.  He walked around the vehicle and mentally checked off criteria boxes in his head.  Big enough for the family: check.  Well built: check.  Sturdy: check.  Able to handle multiple trips to Gotham and back without breaking down: check.  Right color: check.  Not easily identifiable as a ‘Bruce Wayne’ owned car: questionable.

Bruce could find only one major problem with the Range Rover: he already had one.  No, wait, two.  They were gifts from a Range Rover dealership for coming out to the grand opening.  Now that Bruce thought about it, he wasn’t too sure that he had ever actually driven either of them, apart from the test drive he had taken as a publicity stunt for the dealership.  If he could not remember ever driving them, then he was almost sure that Damian had never seen them, explaining his choice.  He looked over at his son to tell him that he already had one, but stopped himself at the look of hope that lay on his son’s features.  Hope that he had accomplished his mission to his father’s satisfaction.  Hope that his father would be happy with his choice.  Bruce didn’t have the heart to tell him just yet that he wasn’t going to buy a third copy when he had never used the first, or second.  Then another thought came to his mind: _Has Damian ever actually been to the garage at the manor?  Does he even know where it is?  Maybe a trip there would have been a better father/son bonding experience today._

Bruce walked over to Damian and said, “It looks like a very nice SUV son, I…”

Damian interrupted Bruce, his smile growing.  _Oh no,_ Bruce thought, _he thinks I’m going to buy it just because I said it’s nice._   _I don’t want to ruin the good day he is having._

Damian said, “No father, not that one, this one.  No one would ever expect to see you in this.”

Damian took two steps back and laid his hand on the bumper of the vehicle next to the Range Rover with what looked like a sense of pride in his choice.  Bruce’s eyes bulged and his jaw dropped at Damian’s actual selection.  Then he chuckled and thought to himself, _Well, he’s right, no one would ever look at_ that _and say it belongs to Bruce Wayne._

While Damian’s hand rested on the bumper possessively, the bumper was at chest level on the boy.  Bruce’s jaw dropped again at the thought that was going through his son’s mind.  The vehicle in question was a Ford F-250 pickup truck.  It was four wheel drive and lifted, standing aggressively on knobbly, off-road tires.  Bruce took a slower lap around the truck than he had around the SUV, still trying to comprehend what his son thought of as incognito transportation.  However, he wanted to be fair to Damian.  After all, it seemed like he put a lot of thought into the selection, and it looked like it would meet the necessary criteria as he laid them out earlier.  Big enough for the family: definitely.  Well built: yep.  Sturdy: Bruce thought it might rival the Batmobile in a head-on accident.  Able to handle multiple trips to and from Gotham without breaking down: check.  Right color: check.  Not easily identifiable as a ‘Bruce Wayne’ owned car: undoubtedly.

Bruce thought he would play along for now, if only to please his son for a bit longer.  “Well Damian, it certainly does fit the qualifications I laid out for you.  Since we are here, I guess we should at least test drive it and see what happens.”

Damian’s face lit up and Bruce hoped he didn’t have to disappoint his son today.  However, Bruce was still having trouble getting his head around the thought of this truck.  _What would Dick say? What would Jason say?  What would Alfred say?_

Bruce thought the answers to those questions would be a laugh, a request to borrow it, and a look of disbelief, respectively.

Roy smiled at Bruce and said, “Good choice sir.  This is actually one of my favorite vehicles on the lot.”  Roy went off to get the keys.

Bruce turned to Damian and said, “If we are to buy it, and I’m not saying that we are, where exactly are we supposed to park it?  I don’t think it will fit in the garage.”

Damian’s smile smoothed and Bruce thought he had said the wrong thing.  Damian then said, deadpan, “Father, you told me once that the grounds around the manor are three thousand acres and fully enclosed by twenty foot tall, four foot thick, stone and concrete walls.  I think we can find some space.”

Bruce huffed a laugh and nodded.  _Maybe it won’t be so bad._

Roy returned with the keys and let Bruce climb into the driver’s seat.  Damian was quick to jump into the front passenger seat and start looking at all the truck’s features.  A large smile split his face as he tried to look everywhere at once.  Bruce spent more time looking at the look of wonder on Damian’s face than he spent looking at the truck’s features.  One thing Bruce did notice was how comfortable the driver’s seat was.  _I think there is more room in this one seat than there is in the entire interior of my Lamborghini._  

Roy climbed into the back seat and said, “Well, what say we take this beast for a test drive?  Whenever you’re ready, go ahead and pull out of the lot.”

Bruce started up the turbo-charged diesel engine, and the sharp noise of the engine turning over made Damian jump.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered Dick telling him that Damian really didn’t like loud noises.  Bruce pretended that he didn’t notice the reaction when Damian looked across the seat at him.  Instead, Bruce made a show of trying to reach the seatbelt.  Damian turned back to put on his own seatbelt as Bruce threw the truck into gear and pulled out of the spot.  He was instantly aware of just how big this truck was.  It was longer than he thought, and as such, he almost hit the Range Rover parked next to the truck.  Bruce was able to avoid any further fender benders and started the road test proper.  Roy occasionally told him which turns to take on the dealership’s pre-determined test drive route.  Once again, Bruce spent more time paying attention to Damian’s reaction than his own.  Damian quickly got over the loud noise of the engine and started enjoying the ride.  There was a look of wonder on his son’s face that was worth whatever the dealership was going to charge for the truck.  It wasn’t often that Bruce had ever seen his son show any sort of pleasure outside of making snide remarks to Tim or beating up criminals on patrol. 

Bruce pulled the truck back onto the lot and asked Roy for a couple minutes to talk to his son.  Roy stated he needed to use the restroom anyway, but policy dictated he had to take the keys with him.  Bruce immediately handed them over and Roy walked into the showroom.

Bruce looked at Damian and asked, “Well, should we?”

“Can we?  Please, father?”  Damian nodded and almost begged before remembering who he was.  Damian straightened up and tried to put his normal look of disdain back on his face before saying, “I mean, if you want it, it does fit all of the criteria you mentioned earlier.”

Bruce smirked.  Damian was not quite able to completely compose himself, and some of his eagerness still shone through.  _If I can get that look on his face, even once a month, then it is all worth it._

Damian seemed to remember something.  “Father, this Roy is a good person, whether we get this truck or another vehicle, we _have_ to make sure we do whatever we can to help him keep his job.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Damian.”

Roy returned soon after and found father and son standing next to the truck.  Roy glanced back at his supervisor, who was not happy in the least that Roy had left a potential customer, even though Bruce had requested a minute alone.  “I like the looks of those smiles.  Have we come to a decision, gentlemen?”

Bruce looked down at Damian, then back at Roy and said, “We will take it.”  Damian looked up at his father in appreciation and smiled at Roy.  The three walked into the showroom to complete the paperwork.  Damian left to use the restroom and Roy asked Bruce what put the sale over the top.

“The look on my son’s face during that test drive was priceless.  I don’t see that often.  If I can get that same look out of him, then any price is worth it.” Bruce replied.

Roy smiled, then cringed.  “Speaking of price, what sort of financing can we set up for you today?”

Bruce smiled back and stated, “I think I’ll just write a check.”

Roy replied, “Okay, but I have to get that approved by my manager.”  At that time, the manager walked in to take over the financing portion of the deal.

Before the manager could say anything, Bruce pulled out a business card and handed it to the manager, then sat back and waited for the normal reaction to which he had become accustomed.  The business card had just two lines of text:

_Bruce Wayne_

_Wayne Enterprises_

The manager’s eyes bugged out of his head as he realized he sent his least experienced salesman out to handle his most important client ever.  More to the point, he realized his least experienced salesman was in the process of concluding a cash sale to a very happy appearing customer.

“Yes sir, Mr. Wayne.  Your check is good here.”

“Wayne!?!”  Roy coughed up the sip of water he had been drinking, then quickly wiped his mouth and asked, “That Wayne?”

“Yes, Roy, _that_ Wayne.  And let me tell both of you, this young man did an absolutely wonderful job of customer service today.  He should pass whatever test you were giving him today.”  Bruce smiled and stared at the manager pointedly.

“Yes sir, Mr. Wayne.”

Damian walked back into the office and saw how the two men were treating his father and smiled, saying, “They finally learn who you are?”

Roy was frantically working on the paperwork to get it completed as soon as possible.  Bruce thought he might set a record for checking out of a car dealership.  Bruce thought back on the past few hours and the great experience he had and turned his head to look at his son.  He wanted to think that Damian had enjoyed the time as well.  He wanted to see just what his son thought of the next thing Bruce had on his mind.  Bruce signed the papers that were placed in front of him and handed over a check for the full sticker price of the truck.  Roy then handed over the keys and walked the Wayne’s out to their new truck.  Before getting in, Bruce had a quick question.

“Roy, you said this truck was one of your favorite vehicles on the lot.  Which one is your favorite?”

Roy looked skeptical, but didn’t want to get his hopes up that what might be happening was actually happening.  “It’s…That Mustang over there.  The blue one with the white stripes.”

“Father?”

“Damian, don’t you think this man did some good work today?  I think he deserves a reward for his excellent service, don’t you?”

“What’s wrong with the commission check he will be getting for your sale?”

Bruce waved his hand and the lot manager appeared out of nowhere.  Bruce told him, “Your employee did a great job today.  Write up the car, put it in his name.  I’ll write you another check.  I will also be back in a few days for another vehicle I saw earlier.  Thank you for your great service today.”

After another twenty minutes Bruce wrote another check for the full sticker price of the second vehicle, then he and Damian got in the truck and drove away after Roy profusely thanked him and the manager shook his hand for the tenth time.

“Father, why did you say you were planning on coming back for another car?”

Bruce smiled and replied, “I saw a car that I think Dick would like.  I’m going to bring him and see if it would be a good fit.”

“Oh.  That was a rather expensive gift you gave to Roy.”

“Well, he earned it in my book.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes, then…

“How about we go for burgers, Damian?”

“Haven’t you spent enough money today, father?”  Damian then thought about it and said, “Well, I am hungry, but are you sure you can get this thing through a drive-thru?”  Damian stared out the window and looked down on the other cars around him.  Bruce could see the smile returning to his son’s face in the reflection in the window.

_Have I spent enough today?  It doesn’t matter.  It was worth every penny._

 

A/N: My first fic ever!  Yes, out of character all around, but then again, wouldn’t they act differently on a normal day out with no cape or cowl?  “Roy” is not meant to be any other character already in existence in the DC universe.  The car salesman needed a name and Roy was my grandfather’s name.  It is not used nearly as enough anymore.  Whenever I have my first son, he will be named Roy.  I got the size of the grounds around Wayne Manor from another fic I read recently, but for the life of me, I can’t remember which one.  So, whoever you are, thank you.

I don’t own anything.  If I did, Damian would have survived Batman Inc. 8, or the entire series would have never happened at all.  All vehicular copyrights are the property of their respective owners, as is the CarMax brand.

For the record, you can get a lifted F250 through some drive thru’s.  I don’t own one (just a standard F150 for me at the moment), but I have seen it done before.  If you can keep the vehicle roofline under 9 feet, then you will make most height restrictions.  However, the off-road tires may make the width of the truck too wide for some enclosed drive thru’s.


End file.
